Printing on Metal with HP B9180 or B8850 printers

[AnthonyHope]

Hi, does any one know if you can print on metal with either of the above mentioned HP printers? I have asked HP support in the UK and they said NO. But I'm wondering if this is just an uneducated reply.
Does anyone have any experience with either of these HP printers with reagrds to printing on metal.

I have a 0.038mm thick sheet of copper coated with InkAid loaded tapped to a sheet of A4 paper using double sided carpet tape and it is now ready to load in to my B8850 printer, but I'm terrified incase it breaks my printer.

I have searched the web, but all I can find with regards to inkjet metal prints is via Epson printers.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Anthony

[dgberg]

Anthony
Guess its time for a test. I would tape several sheets of your heaviest papers together making them the same thickness as your metal and paper sandwich. Set your platen at its widest and give it a try. The printer doesn't know what materials you are feeding it. Sending the printer a thicker material is the only thing you are doing differently. You should be able to find a specification for your printer on the thickest material it will handle. I still worry about a head strike with my Epsons but am ok so far. The head only passes the 1 side of the media so just make sure that right hand side has nothing abnormal that the head might hit. Let us know how it works.
One last thing. I would try and find a material under .030 if at all possible. Booksmart Studios metal material is .028. I also print on an aluminum flashing that is .023.
.038 seems a little heavy to me.

[AnthonyHope]

Anthony
Guess its time for a test. I would tape several sheets of your heaviest papers together making them the same thickness as your metal and paper sandwich. Set your platen at its widest and give it a try. The printer doesn't know what materials you are feeding it. Sending the printer a thicker material is the only thing you are doing differently. You should be able to find a specification for your printer on the thickest material it will handle. I still worry about a head strike with my Epsons but am ok so far. The head only passes the 1 side of the media so just make sure that right hand side has nothing abnormal that the head might hit. Let us know how it works.
One last thing. I would try and find a material under .030 if at all possible. Booksmart Studios metal material is .028. I also print on an aluminum flashing that is .023.
.038 seems a little heavy to me.

Dan,
      Thanks for the reply. The printer can take media up to 0.7mm, but the documentation only states paper, so i'm a bit worried about metal.

I'm going to get some copper sheets at 0.0125mm to try, rather than the 0.038mm.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers

Anthony

[dgberg]

Anthony,
I think they will all state "paper only" to cover themselves.  Just so you understood my comment about the head only going over the right hand side of your media. I do not want to expose the head to crossing the left and right side of the media on every head pass. I print with a 1" border on the metal so that  the head never really has to entirely cross that left media side. I'm not paranoid, I just do not want a head strike of any kind.
Good idea to get thinner material .038 is 0.9mm so that is too thick. You should be good from 0.5mm(.023) to 0.7mm(.028).

[AnthonyHope]

Anthony,
I think they will all state "paper only" to cover themselves.  Just so you understood my comment about the head only going over the right hand side of your media. I do not want to expose the head to crossing the left and right side of the media on every head pass. I print with a 1" border on the metal so that  the head never really has to entirely cross that left media side. I'm not paranoid, I just do not want a head strike of any kind.
Good idea to get thinner material .038 is 0.9mm so that is too thick. You should be good from 0.5mm(.023) to 0.7mm(.028).

Dan
     Hi, yes, I understand about what you mean inregards to the borders on metal. I am a bit confused though about the thickness measurements you have listed.

The copper I have is 0.038mm thick, its very thin, its like foil. When you say .038 is that of an inch?

I do have 0.5mm aluminium sheets and that is pretty thick, I wouldn't be to keen on putting it through the printer, although they say it can take 0.7mm.

I think you idea of the paper sandwhich is very good and I've done that with the copper sheet and I plan to try a print once I get a  bit of courage.

Cheers

Anthony

www.ahopephotography.co.uk

[AnthonyHope]

Dan,
      It worked. There are a couple of scuff marks on the print, which I think has been caused because the copper strip did not have a smooth and flat surface.

Your paper sandwhich did the trick.

I'll let you know how I get on with other metal surfaces.

Cheers

Anthony

www.ahopephotography.co.uk

[dgberg]

Sorry if I confused the issue. I thought your .038 was thousanths,which would have been .09mm way to thick. I now see your .038 was mm. They are so close. We americans still use that antiquated inch measurment.
You are right the copper is pretty thin and should not be an issue. Another way to print the copper if you have not already thought of it. Take the largest heavy paper that your printer can handle and cut out an area the size of your copper. Lay the copper in the opening and take framers tape and tape it on all 4 sides on the back. The copper is now inset in the opening and you can run the large sheet through the printer. The only issue that can get you is setting all the borders properly so you only print the copper. Its ok if it is off a tiny bit as your frame rabbet will cover the edge.

[AnthonyHope]

Sorry if I confused the issue. I thought your .038 was thousanths,which would have been .09mm way to thick. I now see your .038 was mm. They are so close. We americans still use that antiquated inch measurment.
You are right the copper is pretty thin and should not be an issue. Another way to print the copper if you have not already thought of it. Take the largest heavy paper that your printer can handle and cut out an area the size of your copper. Lay the copper in the opening and take framers tape and tape it on all 4 sides on the back. The copper is now inset in the opening and you can run the large sheet through the printer. The only issue that can get you is setting all the borders properly so you only print the copper. Its ok if it is off a tiny bit as your frame rabbet will cover the edge.

I'm thinking that photo mounts with an inch border and the correct sized aperture will be ideal and do as you suggest, tape the back of the metal edges to the back of the mount.

I'm surprised at how acurate the colours have turned out, considering copper is not white photo paper.

Do you sand the metal before you apply your precoats?

Cheers

Anthony

www.ahopephotography.co.uk

[dgberg]

The aluminum flashing I have purchased and coat with Inkaid, I sand. If you can find out if your flashing has any coatings applied it should all come off before applying Inkaid. You can use certain types of steel wool to give an even burnished look after sanding. Play around like you are doing and will will probably find a look you like.

[AnthonyHope]

The aluminum flashing I have purchased and coat with Inkaid, I sand. If you can find out if your flashing has any coatings applied it should all come off before applying Inkaid. You can use certain types of steel wool to give an even burnished look after sanding. Play around like you are doing and will will probably find a look you like.

Ok, I will do.

Thanks for all the help.

Cheers

Anthony

www.ahopephotography.co.uk